PSY 429 Exam 2

Crystallized Intelligence

(Gain) Acquisition of specific skills and information that people gain as a result of exposure to language and knowledge: Fact based Prior learning and experience Using acquired knowledge to solve problems

Short term memory

Can hold 7 items at once plus or minus 2 If not rehearsed or actively worked with, short term memory lasts 20-30 seconds

Age related declines in Language

CompreheDecision making

Inhibitory Deficit

Inability to tune out irrelevant information

Episodic Memory

Long term memory for events (loss)

Flashbulb memory

Recall of important and distinctive events that stand out from other memories of past events. (Loss)

Types of attention

Selctive, Sustain,Divided/Alternating/task switching/multitasking

Selective Attention

Select one target to focus attentional resources on while simultaneously ignoring irrelevant information.

Attentional Resources Theory

The process of attention reflects the allocation of cognitive resources (Loss of attentional resources leads to longer times to respond)

Myocardial Infarction (heart attack)

What happens when blood supply to the heart muscle is severely reduced or blocked

Social Cognitive Approach

• Socioemotional Selectivity Theory OAs seek to maximize the positive emotions they experience in their relationship.

Ostheoarthritis

•Most common form of Arthritis in OA •Affects joints in the hips, knees, neck, Lower back, and hands

Procedural

(Gain) Recall of actions for particular tasks

Implicit memory

(gain) Information that people acquire without intending to do so

Semantic Memory

(gain)Ability to recall word meanings and factual information

Fluid Intelligence

(loss) Individual's ability to carry out higher-level cognitive operations: Ability to reason Capacity to learn new things Abstract thinking and problem solving

Prospective

(loss) Recall of events to be performed in the future

The combination of eating foods that are low in cholesterol, engaging in aerobic exercise, and avoiding cigarette smoking are important preventative steps for which disease in particular?

A. Atherosclerosis... B. Rheumatoid Arthritis C. Type 1 Diabetes D. Chronic Emphysema

According to the inhibitory deficit hypothesis, older adults have more attentional problems because they are unable to....:

A. Provide a fast and accurate response B. Divide their attention between tasks C. Tune out irrelevant information>>> D. Scan stimuli for a long period of time

prior to administering a memory test, a research assistant informs the older adult participants that the task is particularly difficult for people 65 years of age and older. The researcher has prompted the older participant to experience:

A. Stereotype Threat>>>>> B. Retrieval Interference C. Reminiscence Bump D. Implicit memory bias

Scores of executive functioning measures show a steady decline in later adulthood, however based on cross-sectional studies, which means we can't detect what?

Age Changes

Multidirectional

Aging is ______________ with gains, losses, and stability. A. Everyday life B. Normal C. Multidirectional D. Continuous E. Interindividual F. Intraindividual G. Multidimensional H. Lab

multidimensional

Aging is a ____________, lifelong developmental process A. Everyday life B. Normal C. Multidirectional D. Continuous E. Interindividual F. Intraindividual G. Multidimensional H. Lab

Alternating/Divided Attention

Alternating/Task-switching: Focus attentional resources back and forth between tasks that have different cognitive requirements Divided/ multi-tasking Dividing your attention between two or more different tasks simultaneously.

Conjunction visual search task

Both YAs and OAs perform less efficiently on conjunction visual search tasks, however, the cost of performance is higher for OAs. For example, grocery store: Older adults can do better by using their environment to help them.

Continuous

Cognitive functions and processes are ______________ (e.g., sustained attention, selective attention, divided attention). A. Everyday life B. Normal C. Multidirectional D. Continuous E. Interindividual F. Intraindividual G. Multidimensional H. Lab

Arthritis

Conditions affecting the joints and surrounding tissue

Cognitive perspective

Coping and control theory People are driven by the desire to predict and control their experiences • Importance placed on the ways people interpret their experiences and understand themselves over time

Executive Functioning

Decision- making and problem-solving • Judgement • Reasoning • Abstract thought All Multidirectional and Multidimensional

Interindividual, Intraindividual

Differences within ourselves (________________) and differences between each people (_____________) have an impact on the aging process. A. Everyday life B. Normal C. Multidirectional D. Continuous E. Interindividual F. Intraindividual G. Multidimensional H. Lab

psychodynamic perspective

Ego Psychology (Freud) Emphasizes the ways in which unconscious motives and impulses express themselves in people's personalities and behavior • Vaillant's Theory of Defense Mechanisms • Adult Attachment Theory

Types of memory

Episodic, Autobiographical, flashbulb, semantic, procedural, implicit, prospective

Trait Approach

Five factor model: 5 broad dispositions with 6 subscale or "facets" within each (total score of 30) • Neuroticism - Extraversion - Openness Personality Inventory - Revised (NEO-PI-R)

Sustain Attention

Focusing on a target or stimuli for an extended period.

Verbal Fluency

Form of executive functioning requires an individual to generate multiple items meeting a single criterion. Ex: List all the words you can beginning with the letter "S" in 60-seconds. "A score of under 17 indicates the test administrator needs use additional tests to further evaluate cognition."

Arteriosclerosis

General term for the thickening and hardening of arteries

Health Factors Affecting Aging of Intelligence

Greater decline in executive functioning among smokers. Among men, obesity predicts lower intelligence scores. People with more active lifestyles (physically, mentally, and socially) show less decline.

Lab vs. Everyday tasks

Older adults are not entirely disadvantaged: • OAs benefit from practice effects similarly to YAs → performance on attention tasks can improve regardless of age • OAs compensate by activating their frontal lobes (PASA) and activate bilaterally (HAROLD) • OAs who perform poorly on lab attentional tasks are able to perform well on complete tasks that encounter doing everyday tasks Accumulated experience means OAs have more information to "sort through" when they are completing a task. In the lab, every millisecond counts. BUT... In everyday life, such delayed responding would be unlikely to have a measurable impact.

Approaches to define personality

Psychodynamic Perspective Trait approach Social Cognitive approach Cognitive perspective

Language abilities that contribute to decline

Reading rate Hearing and speech Speed Retrieval working memory

Autobiographical Memory

Recall of information from your own past (Example, you learned to drive) (Gain)

Language abilities that contribute to stability

Semantic memory "gist" of a story gestures experiences

Everyday life, Lab

Significant age differences measured in the _______ do not always equal meaningful age differences in ________________. A. Everyday life B. Normal C. Multidirectional D. Continuous E. Interindividual F. Intraindividual G. Multidimensional H. Lab

Osteoporosis

The loss of bone mineral content due to an imbalance between bone deterioration and bone growth. • Causes the bones to becomes weak and brittle. • Diagnosed when bone mineral density reaches is 2.5 standard deviations below the mean of young, White, non-Hispanic women.

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

When the build up of fatty deposits affect arteries that feed the heart muscle

Normal

___________ aging ≠ Illness and disease A. Everyday life B. Normal C. Multidirectional D. Continuous E. Interindividual F. Intraindividual G. Multidimensional H. Lab

Stereotype threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

information processing model

encoding, Sensory memory(seconds), form of attention, short term memory (15-30 sedconds), maintenance rehearsal, lo storage, consolidation/retrieval, long term memory

Better Heuristics for problem solving

• Acquired expertise through years of experience. • Exposure to different kinds of problems. • Quickly scan for important information . • Less susceptible to extraneous factors

Atherosclerosis

• Fatty deposits (plaque) collect at an abnormally high rate • Reduces the width of arteries • Limits the circulation of blood

Less effective analytic strategies for problem solving

• Memory lapses. • Difficulty breaking down a problem piece by piece. • Difficulty producing multiple solutions. • Less likely to take in new information to solve a problem